Went to the Dentist Today

This is big news. I haven't been to the dentist in a very, very long time. However, Annie inspired me to make it a New Year's resolution so in I went. I had an exam today and the word is that my teeth desperately need a cleaning (this is not news to me) and other than that, I have no new cavities (just one old one and the filling is still good, phew!). This is the one of the reasons I don't go to the dentist that much. I can get away with it.

Fortunately....

Miss Wanda knows how to deal with this kind of weather.

Unfortunately, my little nephew is sick home from school today.
Fortunately, that means that I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn on the coldest morning of the year and take him to the bus stop! It is -3 out there! My sympathies go out to anyone who has to be out in this. Stay warm!

Mmmm, Alpaca

A whole box of alpaca!
I love alpaca *sigh*

Riding the Rollers

I'm really enjoying riding my bike on the trainer but I think I may have to stay in the doorway for quite a while yet. I tried riding in the middle of the room and completely fell off my bike about three times. I decided not to push my luck and moved back to the doorway. I could just imagine the emergency room conversation if I'd really hurt myself:

ER Nurse: Ma'am, how did you get injured?
Me: I crashed my bike.
Nurse: Where?
Me: Um, in the house.
Nurse: What were you doing?
Me: Trying to watch TV.
Nurse: Hmm.

Post Holiday Blahs or What Am I Going To Do About The Rest Of The Winter

Anyone else feeling that way?
The shop is looking better. We got a big box of yarn today and another of needles so the shelves are looking much less pillaged than over the weekend. Even though the shop was much busier this fall, I'm not sure if that will hold over to the new year, so I'm ordering more yarn to fill the shelves but trying to do it moderately so that I can pay for it all. It is always a balancing act. Can't sell it if it's not here but also can send some to the power company to cover the gas bill. Ah, the wonder of retail. No wonder I'm not bored with it after all these years.

Goodbye Earthlink!

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
I've finally gotten rid of Earthlink and am using Comcast. I was very, very unimpressed with how Earthlink dealt with the death of my modem last fall and had been planning to ditch them since. Instead of reimbursing me for the two weeks I was without service (while they dithered around and finally figured out my modem had kicked it) they sent me a Starbucks gift certificate! I don't even drink coffee!
Anyway, I'm done with them and they only made me stay on hold for 45 minutes while they did it. Ugh!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a great New Year! This one has been pretty busy, especially this last month! People definitely seem to like the fact that we're open seven days a week.

I got a lot of Christmas projects done and I thought I'd show you the highlights.

These are socks for my cousin Henry. I wasn't really thrilled with the red until I got the heel done and then I found myself quite charmed by them!
These are my cousin Katherine's socks. They are made from Socks That Rock silk and wool. They are handwash only (who makes a sock yarn handwash only??!!) and Katherine was the one I could trust not to throw them in the machine! I made a cotton dress for Big Niece, which she put on immediately after opening it, and a zipper hoodie for Little Niece. We didn't get a picture of Little Niece in her sweater because when we tried it on her, all she did was cry. I hope she actually likes it sooner or later. My sister promised to take a picture of her in it if she isn't screaming. Both girls picked out their own yarn this year! My brother-in-law ask for door snakes so I made actual snakes. The tongues are a little big and they look like they are giving the world a raspberry. Hey, well, sometimes the world could use a great big raspberry so it's nice to know they are on the job.My sister Margaret (she's gonna kill me for posting this picture. Hi, Margaret!) got a bag of yarn with a pattern which will, hopefully, be another sweater for her sometime before next fall.

I got some very nice presents this year! My current favorite is a roller style trainer for my bicycle. Usually, you clip your rear wheel to a trainer and it is like riding a very uncomfortable stationary bike. This kind, your bike isn't attached at all and you ride it like you are riding on a road (a very narrow road). It is fun but almost like learning to ride a bike all over again. Fortunately, they recommended riding in a doorway until you get used to it because you can loose your balance and fall right over. I've been doing a little every day for three days now and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I still ping pong back and forth between the sides of the door frame but not anywhere near as much as I did a couple days ago. My goal is to be able to ride it in the middle of the bedroom. I can't see the TV from the doorway!

So that's the latest. My New Year's resolution is to blog more regularly. We'll see how that goes.